Horsepower curves
 

Ideally, if you were building a motor (or choosing a motor), wouldn't you want the peak horsepower BEFORE redline? So that when you shift you shift into your power band? On Horsepower TV I always see them build motors that keep climbing in hp all the way to redline.

http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vemp_07.../photo_09.html

That's a good example of what I'm saying. It seems like they would have to shift down way out of their power band. If they would just move that torque curve a little to the left... Would they be faster in the 1/4?

The HP starts to taper at 6400rpm and the meat of the torque is between 5000-5500 with over 400ftlb after 4000rpm. Doesn't seem too bad to me.

Looks like a good curve to me, when they shift it will put them right into high torque if it's geared right.

In terms of the stuff you see on TV, a lot of times they are just trying to make a big peak number to look cool. Ideally you want to run the motor until the power flattens out and then just starts to drop off, but with giant cams and huge flowing heads you can't safely spin the motor high enough with the bottom ends those guys usually have in the motors.

Yes, I'm thinking I have an engine that will safely spin to 6k RPM, so I want as much HP as I can get below the curve between 3500 and 6k. When I shift from 1st to 2nd I think I go from 6k rpm to 2.8k rpm. A4 w/ 3.23's. A torque converter should bring that up to 3500ish.

I wish the gap between 1-2-3 was smaller with a big gap between 3 and OD. Can you get an A4 with custom gearing? Will any of those links on the right take me to where I want to be?

You can get a custom geared A4, but it would be pretty expensive. You'd be better off getting a set of rear gears and just deal with the higher highway rpm.